87-Year-Old Survives After Tornado Destroys Home

REBECCA ROBERTS, host:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rebecca Roberts.

Twenty people died and 1,500 homes were demolished or damaged after tornadoes cut across central Florida on Friday. Eight thousand Florida National Guard troops have been deployed to help clean up the wreckage, and President Bush declared the four worst affected counties federal disaster areas. And while residents in the rural region mourn their losses, many are celebrating those who survived.

John Sepulvado of member station WUSF reports from Lady Lake, Florida on one story of a seemingly miraculous survival.

JOHN SEPULVADO: Eighty-seven-year-old Janette Boyd went to bed Thursday night knowing there was a storm coming. She says she didn't think it would be that bad. After all, she lived in a small house, the only house at the Lady Lake Mobile Home Park. But then she was awakened by a neighbor knocking on the door.

Ms. JANETTE BOYD (Tornado Survivor): About 3:15 in the morning and she said there's a storm coming and I'm afraid to stay here in my mobile home.

SEPULVADO: Janette invited her in, but quickly the neighbor ran back to her mobile home to grab something and that's when Boyd heard the roar of the oncoming storm and realized things might get rough. So she went to the closet to grab a flashlight in case the power went out.

Ms. BOYD: I reached up to get it and just as I reached up to get it - I had it in my hand - the storm hit and knocked me down.

SEPULVADO: It wasn't just the storm; it was a tornado, and it picked up Janette's small, frail body along with everything she owned and dumped it 30 feet away. Neighbors say Janette Boyd landed on a mattress with a small chair over her, shielding her from other debris. Two teenaged boys rescued her from the wreckage, and soon Boyd was on the phone with her daughter Bonnie Beech(ph).

Ms. BONNIE BEECH (Daughter): My mother called me at 20 minutes after 4:00 and she says, Bonnie, it's all gone. I says, What are you talking about? And she says, I'm standing in the yard. And I said, Well, what are you talking about, you're standing in the yard? It's 4:00 o'clock in the morning. She said, We had a storm.

SEPULVADO: It was also pouring down rain, drenching Janette Boyd as she waited for her daughter. The neighbors saw her, grabbed her, brought her inside the house and dried her off. And by the time Bonnie Beech reached the neighbor's mobile home, she says her mother was worried about only one thing. Janette Boyd wanted her dentures.

Ms. BOYD: I guess I was in shock because I only think of one thing at a time. And I think I was still that way because (unintelligible) I asked for something.

SEPULVADO: Janette Boyd's family is thankful she's still alive, with the only injury being a gash on her head. Yet new frustrations are setting in. Boyd can't eat much because of her missing dentures, and what she can eat she can't keep down. She has a hard time getting up and down from her daughter's couch; that's where she's sleeping for the time being. And Boyd requires several medications, and that's a big problem because her insurance cards are lost, just like everything else.

Her daughter, Bonnie Beech, says then there's the biggest problem: how to save everything her mom worked for.

Ms. BEECH: My mother's life savings are here.

SEPULVADO: Was it insured?

Ms. BEECH: It's insured, but they're already going uhhhh...

SEPULVADO: That's how Bonnie Beech describes the response of the insurance companies to the disaster and that makes her frustrated. As for Janette Boyd, she's thankful she made it through. She wants to rebuild her home. And she wants to get herself a new pair of dentures.

For NPR News, I'm John Sepulvado. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.